Free Rhythm and Blues by Samantha-Ellen Bound

Chapter One
    I don’t know how it happened.
    One minute I was reaching for the ball, the goalpost in my sight, and the next I was down on the sticky floor, staring at everyone’s sneakers, the ball bouncing away from me.
    I felt a weird sensation in my lower leg, like a balloon full of pins had burst inside my ankle. Then WHAM! my head smacked into the ground.
    Never was I more thankful for my nana’s thick, tight braids (‘Nana’ is what I call my mum; it’s a term from Fiji, which is where I’m from). I’m sure they cushioned the blow.
    Blackness flooded my vision for a second. I blinked it away and let my eyes swim back into focus. There was a crowd of girls peering down at me.
    â€˜Let me through, let me through!’ My basket ball coach, Stacey, pushed the players aside and knelt down next to me.
    â€˜Riley?’ she said. ‘Are you okay? Did you hit your head? What happened?’
    I coughed and tried to sit up, but little stars danced across the insides of my eyelids. A queasy feeling was making a whirlwind in my guts. I wished everyone would back away because they were making me feel worse.
    Talk about embarrassing.
    â€˜I jumped to catch the ball,’ I managed to say. ‘And then I landed on my foot wrong. It kind of rolled?’
    â€˜Does it hurt now?’ asked Stacey.
    â€˜Not too badly,’ I said, although the sensation of a million pins stabbing into your ankle probably wasn’t that healthy.
    I never get injured. I was mad at myself and my body for letting me down, and causing this stupid scene in the middle of the court.
    â€˜Sit up when you’re ready,’ Stacey said. ‘We’ll get you off the court and bring you some ice to put on it.’ She looked at my head. ‘And for your noggin, too. You might have concussion.’
    â€˜I don’t have anything,’ I said, and to prove that, I took a breath and sat up. My eyes went swirly and my stomach along with them, but after a second the feeling went away.
    Stacey glared at me. ‘Riley, I said when you were ready .’
    â€˜I am ready,’ I lied. ‘Get me off this court.’
    Stacey reached under me and put her arm around my back to hoist me up. I almost died. One of my friends, Ellie, would have loved the attention. She would even have thrown in some fake faints! My other best friend, Ash, would have laughed it off and made a joke about being a klutz. But I knew my third best friend, Paige, would have felt exactly the same as I did. I wished she was here right now instead of all these strangers smothering me.
    â€˜Riley, don’t go so fast,’ Stacey scolded me.
    I was just about pulling her along the court towards our team seats. My head was swimming and I felt like my breakfast might come back up. But I just had to get off that court, and away from all the attention.
    Thankfully, I heard the whistle blow behind me, which meant the game had started again.Opal, the girl subbing for me, held out her hand for a high five as she raced on.
    I gave it a weak slap but really I was super annoyed at her for taking my place.
    â€˜Sit on the ground, Riley, and put your foot up on this.’ Stacey carefully placed her backpack under my injured foot. The assistant coach, Jackson, handed her two ice packs, each wrapped in a towel. ‘Put this on your ankle, too. You might have a sprain. Whack this other one on where you hit your head. Jackson will sit with you to make sure you’re okay.’
    â€˜Is this really necessary?’ I grumbled, trying to wave Jackson away. ‘I’m fine. I can barely even feel it.’ In truth, both my ankle and head felt like they were on fire, but I just needed to sit by myself for a few minutes and I’d be okay.
    â€˜Probably ’cause you’ve got concussion,’ Jackson said.
    â€˜Put your jacket on, too,’ Stacey said. ‘Keep warm. Don’t let yourself get